Google Play Instant: Technical requirements checklist for games

The quality of your instant app experience can influence the long-term success
of your game in terms of installs, pre-registrations, growth, and player
retention. Before publishing the instant app version of your game, it's
important to make sure that this version of your game's experience meets the
basic expectations of players.

This document helps you understand the quality level, feature set, and UX that
your game should attain to be successful. Each focus area presents a checklist
of minimum requirements, best practices, and good-to-have enhancements. In the
interest of delivering the best possible experience to your players, follow each
checklist requirement, and follow the checklist recommendations to the greatest
extent possible.

Note: To help prioritize your development
efforts, take note of the level of importance indicated for each checklist
item:

Required. Minimum requirements that must be implemented
for your game to be considered compatible with Google Play games
services.

Best practice. Strongly recommended implementation
guidelines.

Good to have. Suggested guidelines to help you create a
distinctive player experience.

Instant app total download size

ID

Importance

Description

1.1

Required

Your instant app's total APK size must be less than or equal to
10 MB.

1.2

Required

Secondary in-game loading screens must not download more than 15 MB
of content at a time.

1.3

Best practice

When uncached, users should be able to start playing your game in less
than 15 seconds over an LTE or 4G connection.

App installation or pre-registration

ID

Importance

Description

2.1

Required

When offering installation or pre-registration, you must display a
clearly marked installation or pre-registration button that initiates
installation and pre-registration, respectively, in at least one of the
following ways:

Display a persistent button throughout gameplay.

Display a persistent button on the main menu.

Display a button between levels, matches, or battles.

2.2

Best practice

Your instant app call-to-action (CTA) button should use the label
Install or Pre-register.

Users might not understand standalone icons that represent installation
or pre-registration if these icons are unaccompanied by clear labels.

In-game navigation

ID

Importance

Description

3.1

Required

Don't disable support for the Android back button. Players must be able
to move backward through the history of screens that they've previously
visited.

3.2

Required

User must be able to exit the game in 2 clicks or fewer.

3.3

Good to have

Provide a confirmation prompt to the user when they click the back
button with clear Cancel and Exit options. The Cancel
option can return users to the game, and the Exit option can return
users to the previous screen they visited.

Ads display

ID

Importance

Description

4.1

Required

During gameplay, use only unobtrusive banner ads. Don't use any other
type of ad, especially full-page interstitial ads, that would interrupt the
gameplay.

4.2

Required

Ads must not be disguised as in-game components or elements of menu/app
navigation.

4.3

Best practice

If you use interstitial ads in your game, display the interstitials in
between rounds of gameplay.

In-app purchases

ID

Importance

Description

5.1

Required

If your instant app offers in-app purchases, your instant app must
support the transfer of in-app items to the installed game.

Example:

Player buys a pack of 1000 coins.

Player uses 500 coins to unlock an in-game item, such as a
power-up.

Player clicks the Install button to upgrade to the full,
installed version of the game.

The balance of 500 coins must be transferred over to the full,
installed game.

5.2

Required

Users must not be required to make an in-app purchase before being able
to play your game. This requirement applies to both the instant app version
and the full, installed version of your game.

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